The Point Where it Breaks
by Pygmanlion
Summary: When the Cordyceps fungus reaches Vale, the hunters of Beacon Academy must decide if they can face the coming storm. Team RWBY-centric. The Last of Us influenced. Rated T for Language.
1. The Point Where It Breaks - Prologue

**A/N: I do not own RWBY or the Last of Us. Those are owned by Monty Oum (Rest in Peace, you magnificent man) and Naughty Dog, respectively. Fair Warning. There is lots of OOC from a lot of different characters. Also, I threw in an OC just for fun. This is, as the tags suggest, a RWBY AU where the Last of Us disease breaks out. It's told after the events in a sort of "story time circle/ support group," like at the beginning and end of **_**The World's End.**_** If you have constructive criticism, I would be happy to hear it. Just no profanity or nastiness among the ranks. We're all writers and we're all on different levels, so please respect that. I've rambled enough. Enjoy the story.**

* * *

When the disease broke out, we all knew where we were. I was coincidentally with those I called my crew. My team. It was dark, just about 2:15. I heard a blast, yelling, and some pounding and snarling.

In short, it was trouble.

Skip ahead a couple of hours and we were running for our lives from those…things. It was weird, because they had marks on their skin and eyes out of their sockets. They were the embodiment of death. Pure and simple evil. We ran for the pier. I just thought to myself, "Why? What's going on?"

Then a light shone. A man in body armor asked to see our ID. Too afraid to speak, we said nothing. He talked on his fancy little comm gadget for a couple of seconds before saying, "Come aboard. We're accepting only Beacon students on this boat. We're going to Vacuo." We said nothing, still frozen in fear. Then, someone broke the silence.

"What. Is. Happening. I must know," said Luminous angrily. Luminous was my brother. He was a faunice. A fox. Serious, clever, and fierce. He was everything a fox was and wanted to be.

"Why _are_ we going to Vacuo? Field trip? Because it looks like we're in a bit of an emergency here," said Blake. It figured she'd speak next. Wherever Luminous goes, she goes.

The man said, "Just go. We won't hold these monsters off for much longer. What matters is that the youth of the population is safe. Just-just go." The man had a tinge of sadness in his voice, but also pride. He thought, "I will give my life for the well-being of humanity's future. I will calm myself and face my fate. While I fight for the safety of the future, I will die with honor, and I will die quickly."

After about two or three days on the ship, we talked amongst ourselves about our destination. We talked about what happened when we evacuated our hometown and many other unsolved riddles.

If you don't know where Vacuo is in relation to where we were, it's all the way across the world. We were at the heart. Vale. Where it all started. On the surface, a nice, friendly town, but at night, all the evil it bottles up is released like a lion from a cage. The disease spread like wildfire. Everywhere you looked, there were carcasses being devoured by the _infected_, or large, steel fences indicating that the next checkpoint was coming soon. Even though the government said it was under control, the zones were complete and utter chaos.

Next we meet; I tell you the story of the same group five years after the outbreak.

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**A/N: I know I haven't given a name or even a nickname to the narrator. I've written ahead a couple of chapters, so I know who it is. You can all guess in the reviews. Once again, no profanity or rudeness. I want to keep this a clean story. (I say that and I know what happens to the characters.) You'll see…Pyg out.**


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: Once again, I'll lay out the rules just to be safe. No profanity and no rudeness to each other. Major and minor OOC. One OC in the story for fun/just 'cause I can. I accept constructive criticism. Reviews are appreciated. PM me for questions related to story. PM is for story related questions **_**only.**_** Also, can we get some cover art? That would be really appreciated. I think that this can really go places. If anyone has cover art already, PM me a link.**

* * *

Five years after the outbreak, I was stuck in the small apartment building commandeered for us hunters and our friends. I was sharing an apartment with Luminous. You know what that meant, right? Blake was with him. It was always "Stay safe," or, "We'll be back!" or some crap like that. I'm fine on my own. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm…I lost count. What was it? Twenty? Nineteen? Anyway, the day in question was a day like all the others. Boring as hell. That was when I decided that I had enough.

"Wait…The whole reason we got out of Vale in the first place was because we were hunters and huntresses. If that's so…Then why are we being 'kept safe' in these three foot deep concrete walls? We can surely take what's out there! I'm _real_ mad now. I need to take this up with Oz."

If you don't know who Oz is, he was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. The outbreak, plus his high status as a Hunter, had landed him the job of pretty much ruling over the quarantine zones. Instead of Professor Ozpin, now we called him Sir Ozpin.

I walked my way through the streets of Vacuo. A dusty, decrepit town full of high tension and low standards. The guards were s**tty and the people weren't any better. There were guards everywhere you looked, with a shady guy on every corner, both bartering for bullets to survive. Of course, the big-shot government building was the only thing that was kept clean and tidy.

I walked in through the double doors and told the "receptionist" that I was there to see Ozpin. He talked on his walkie-talkie for a couple minutes before droning on about the rules of seeing Oz.

"There will be no-"

"No talking unless talked to, no shouting unless shouted at and no fighting. I've been here before."

"Alright then. Have a nice day you thickheaded bi**h."

"Ms. Rose. I've been expecting you for quite some time. How've you been?"

"How've _I been? How have I been?! I'll tell you how I've been! I've been holed up in this glorified animal pen wondering why we're cowering behind concrete when we could be out there helping people! People out there who are dying in this Godforsaken world with no way of defending themselves! I'm a Huntress! A soldier trained specifically for helping the helpless! I've been really f**king pissed, that's how I've been!"_

"Well then. That was very…Colorful. Give me a minute. I need to consult Ms. Goodwitch."

I heard murmurs coming from out in the hall, where Ozpin was conversing with Glynda Goodwitch. His advisor and former headmaster's assistant.

"Well, Ms. Rose, after hearing your…_Eloquent _opinion, we've decided to let you and three people of your choosing to go 'help the helpless' as you put it."

* * *

"That's about as much time as we have for tonight, Red," said the guard observing the group.

"Aww, Story time's over already? And I was having so much fun too…Okay. Well, my work here is done. There's gonna be someone new to tell the rest of the story. I don't know if they'll tell the full story yet. Red, out."

* * *

**A/N: So. Yeah…Red's going on an adventure. Did I give too much away as to whom the narrator was? If you didn't get it as soon as the color and nickname "Red" was mentioned, it was Ruby. If you're mainly reading this for Last of Us plot and haven't the faintest idea as to what I'm talking about, what are you doing here? Anyway, go to and watch RWBY. It's jaw-dropping to the point where my jaw dropped through the floor and went all the way to the other side of the world through the Earth. So…New narrator, Yay! Leave in the reviews who you think it is. I've written to chapter three, so I know. The Prologue, which was the first chapter to you guys, was chapter zero for me. Chapter three will show up as chapter four and so on from there. Sorry for the confusion! Pyg out.**


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N: New narrator in this chapter. Someone very familiar. On that note, refer to chapters zero and one for rules and regulations on the story's feedback, cover art situation, etc. I should stop rambling. Enjoy.**

One week after "Red" had left for something, the people were all gathered around their fire, some were crouching around it, warming their hands, and some were impatiently waiting on their new host or hostess.

"That 'someone new' she mentioned had better show up soon or I'll feed myself to one of those things," One of them said.

Another tried to convince the man to stay, saying, "Hey, maybe they're runnin' late. Maybe one of them patrol assholes got 'em."

"Got who?" said a voice from the shadows.

Swinging around, the two said, almost begging, "We don't wanna die, all's we been doing is getting together to share stories, please don't kill us!"

"Relax, will ya? I ain't one of those goons trolling the streets. In fact," the mystery voice said, walking calmly out of the bushes, "I came to move Riding Hood's little story along."

"And what's yer name?"

"My name will be withheld until my portion of the story is finished. Until then, call me Flower. Delicate, bright, and yet, poisonous…If one of you has me figured out, speak up."

The noise of crickets and a slow, volatile, clicking ensued.

"You really must pay attention more," Flower said to the guard, after jumping in front of him, killing the monster immediately.

It was as if she hadn't moved from that spot. And yet, Flower was in two places at once. She calmly walked back to where she originally came into the forest clearing. The onlookers watched in astonishment as the second Flower faded away and the real one took her place.

"That thing," said Flower, gesturing to the corpse of the monster, "reminds me of the time when the group was mainly still together. It was Dragon, Riding Hood, and I with Lumin in the next room over. Times were a bit more boring then. God…I miss boring. By the time I'm talking about, though, Red had put on her mask and shouted something about sparkly s**t. We were in the middle of a cloud of the spores. I heard a scream."

Red wrote it off as Runners. In other words, fast zombies. I didn't believe it was only those noisy things, but she was right. I saw an opening in a doorway that was two-thirds the way boarded up with a makeshift barrier. A dresser stacked on top of book cases with a fallen wooden beam blocking us from our exit. Lumin lifted it as much as he could. Enough to get me, him, Dragon and Red through the blocked off route. We walked through the small pathway. Sure enough, we saw a newly dead body, already growing mushrooms on it, probably just starting to rot.

"Ew…Have a look at the walls," Said Red.

Sure enough, something truly disgusting met my eyes. The walls had patches of the mushroom growing on it. It almost looked like muscle. Like the building itself was alive thanks to the unknown fungi.

"Shut up Red. Do you hear that?" I said in a soft, yet harsh voice.

Screams of the undead echoed through the halls. The slobbering and scratching and chomping of the Runners feeding on their new meal struck fear into the hearts of my friends. We hid behind a corner at the doorway of the large enclosure. An apartment flat. We managed to sneak past them without wasting any of our ammo. I jogged out into the sunlight of the outside. I forgot what it was like to feel truly alive. I forgot what my life was. I forgot freedom.

"Smells like home…" I said.

"Smells like…Like…" Lumin trailed off.

"Smells like what?" Red asked.

"Like friends. Like Beacon."

I couldn't speak for awhile after he said that. It's like I had a rock in my throat. What's worse, my twitch came back. _Something on Flower's head wiggled._

We decided to find someone who knew something about a way to find a cure. I had my man on the inside. Sun Wukong. He had run off with the White Fang when they promised him freedom from that dump that we called the "safe place." The White Fang had gone from an extremist group of misguided Faunus to a very misguided and possibly terrorist-like union of Human and Faunus working to find a way out of this sh**hole we called Remnant. It was, at that time, a Remnant of its former self.

**A/N: on that heavily philosophical note, we end with Flower as she continues through her portion of the story. I had a seriously crazy idea for who was going to narrate next, Adam Taurus, but I decided to scrap it when I decided to retype the original version of the story and remake it entirely. I want your feedback this time. So who do you want it to be? Sun Wukong, or Dragon. There will be one more chapter of Flower's POV, so whoever it is will be featured in chapter four, showing up as chapter five for you guys. Once again, if the numbering confuses you, sorry for the inconvenience. Remember to PM me if you have a link to Cover Art or if you have any questions about the story, how it was written, why it was written and why it was written the way it was. If back-story is needed, look up the characters on the RWBY wikia and imagine them all dirtied up, five years older and with the season (volume, sorry) two outfits slightly torn up and raggedy. You're welcome to give constructive criticism and to point out grammar mistakes. I may have a very large vocabulary, but it doesn't mean that fancy language makes up for nonsense. I just now had to retype the word "that" in the previous sentence three different times before it was correct. Pyg out.**


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: I can't find another way to progress the story than to use Flower again. At one point, you're probably going to wonder, "Where the hell is Ice Queen?" Maybe she'll show up in one of Dragon's chapters**

* * *

I flipped out an old flip phone. Fully charged. It's been inactive since the apocalypse (I hate saying that word) started. I hoped it still worked. Sure enough, it got through to Sun. The man on the inside, or our "messenger monkey" as Red called him. I asked if we could meet.

"Meet? As in you, pretty-boy, little red and Ms. Inferno, face to face? Uh-uh. No way. No chance in hell will I give my job and practically my life to help you on your grand old righteous quest to wipe the Infected off the planet."

"Relax chimp-chump," I said impatiently, "I'm not asking you to come with us. I'm asking for where to find your leader."

"I know I'm one of the higher-ups, but if I gave you his location, I'd be signing my own name on my death certificate."

"I get it. Just tell me and we'll explain our reasoning."

"Okay," Sun said, "He's in the old abandoned warehouse near where you are. If you were to take a right, go down Ironwood Street and then face left halfway down the street, you'll see it. He'll most likely be on the second or the basement floor. I'd check the basement first. You wanna know how I know where you are?"

"Thanks Sun, and no I don't," I said in the most sincerely thankful tone I could muster, "We've been sent off by Sir Ozpin to go find if anyone found a cure."

"Oh! If you're looking for that, then you should just outright ask him. Skip the formalities and just ask him the question."

"Got it."

"Also, I track your phone by GPS. Don't judge me."

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry that this was a short chapter today. I'm in the process of writing a new chapter which will be out on February 20****th****. The narrators so far have been: **

**Red/Riding Hood: Ruby Rose**

**Flower: Name withheld until next chapter.**

**Pyg out.**


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N: Change of plans again! Since chapter three was really short, I decided to put out two chapters today! Anyway, I've been reading a fan fiction from this guy called Koda the Beaver. That fan fiction is called "Amnesiac" and it's about Ruby and Velvet in a slightly more modern setting than it is in the show. Ruby and Velvet are homeless…Sort of. They live in an old abandoned warehouse and Ruby hacks her way into Beacon High, getting Velvet in too. It's all fine and dandy until Velvet gets a fever. Ruby goes to her job and comes back to find Velvet dead in an alley with bloody handprints on her neck. It's super sad and stuff, so if you like that and minor ladybug pairing, go read that. It's awesome. Those who have should understand why we find who we do where she is in this chapter. Sorry. I'm rambling again. One more thing. Koda had the brilliant idea of putting certain music tracks on while you read the chapter. As I wrote this one, I listened to R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World" non-stop. It's not really fitting, but it got me in the right mood for writing. This story is sort of following up on Koda's cannon with minor changes in it. I've modified it slightly in order to fit my OC into the story.**

We did as Sun said, going down Ironwood Street halfway after taking a left, and sure enough, we found the warehouse. The warehouse was almost collapsing in on itself. I was surprised that the White Fang would ever choose this place as a base of operations at first, but then I remembered that Adam was the most resourceful person I knew. We entered only to be greeted by hundreds of faunus and humans steadying their aim on the front door. I immediately knew that entering through the front door had been a horrible mistake.

We heard one shout to another, "Go wake her. See if she knows them. They've got two faunus with them."

Red had turned the same shade as her cloak. I turned to her and she whispered something inaudible, which was strange considering my level of hearing.

"Red, what are you whispering?" I shot to her in a quiet, harsh tone.

"I don't know who they're talking about, but I have my suspicions."

"Who do you think it is then?"

"I can't be sure! We'll have to wait."

I heard the small clacking of heavy boots on a fragile frame. I looked down, unable to face who it was. Red, who I saw out of the corner of my eye, had an expression of confusion, happiness and anger mixed up and thrown onto her face. It was strange. The last time she was happy was the day before we left for Vacuo. The day before the outbreak.

Red broke away from the rest of us to go to whoever was in front of us. I hadn't the faintest idea who it was until she spoke.

"Ruby? What the hell are you doing all the way out here?" said a slightly British-Australian voice.

I mumbled to myself under my breath, "Velvet?" which was half shouted, half spoken by Red immediately after I had identified her.

I looked up, and sure enough was the same girl I saw lowered into the grave bought by the dust crystal I had entrusted to Ruby, who was known to us now as Red.

"How? Why are you-" Ruby asked, getting cut off by the girl she thought was still walking the streets of Vale covered in mushrooms. "Still alive? It's a wonder of modern science, it truly is. I'll tell you about it as soon as you tell me why Sun has had to make calls so frequently during important meetings."

I butt in, "Ruby, kindly shut your face. I got this. Velvet Scarlatina…I called Sun on several occasions to get him to give us directions to the hideout of the White Fang that housed Adam Taurus."

"Oh…I s'pose that's reasonable, but I want to know why."

"Why has the Rabbit suddenly turned into the Fox? If you want to know something that can't be thrown around like a baseball, ask the person who's been in your pocket the entire time."

"I'm hurt, Blake Belladonna, Black Cat of the White Fang, I'm hurt. Wounded, even. Why would you ever say that to someone you know has had it worse than you?"

I was left speechless. Spinning in my mind. Gone from reality back to the past.

_I was running. Running from those creeps again. They were faster. I outmaneuvered them and came out onto 7__th__ Street. I kept running, seeing the neon signs fly past me. Paradise, The Gates of Hell, The Hog's Head, all rolling past me faster than light. I turned down an alleyway to find a small girl with rabbit ears surrounded. One man said, "If we can't catch a cat, then a rabbit will have to do." The other had a lead pipe in his hand. He was ready to strike. I ran to the girl and picked her up, once again, running out of there. Always running. Running somewhere, from something. I set her down at the subway station where she walked away, thanking me too much._

"_Please, stop…" she begged Cardin, as I hid my ears as to not be seen as what she was seen as. A freak._

"I…I…Don't"

"Blake. I'm sorry. You…I shouldn't have said that."

"No. Velvet, you were right. I was never perceived the way you were, because I had the luck of actually being _able _to hide who I really was. You weren't so fortunate and I'm sorry that you had to go through all that. I wasn't the school's 'Rabbit Girl' or the 'Half Human of Beacon High.' I was someone I wasn't. Normal."


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: Hey, it's Pyg again with a new chapter. So, how about those Oscars, eh? Special shout-out to the only guy in my little clique of friends who watched the Oscars. I just saw the music video for the song used as foreshadowing in "Amnesiac." Coldplay's **_**The Scientist.**_** I have to say, it was much better than I was expecting. It made me feel almost as sad as when the main plot started to happen in "Amnesiac." Anyway, more stuff happens in this chapter today! Yay!**

"Well?" Said an extremely angered voice.

"'Well' what?" Said an equally angry, yet soft voice.

I opened my eyes to find myself under fire from the stares of my companions, who stood over me as if they were in a tightly packed football huddle. I tried to stand, but they just pushed me back down onto what I recognized as a soft and surprisingly comfortable bed. I laid there for a few seconds, still taking cover from my ogling friends and their icy cold stares full of worry.

_I don't need or in any way want your pity. I myself don't even know what happened._

I elected to ask them what had transpired, but they gave disapproving looks instead, as if to say, "If you heard, you would have wished we didn't tell you."

But I too was well versed in the language of the body. I returned with a look of saddened anger, trying to say, "sure, I'll let you guys tell me what happened whenever you feel that I can 'handle the truth.'"

Just then, a pair of boots sounded off in the doorframe. A small cough also feebly made its way out to grab attention. It succeeded. My friends all simultaneously turned their heads to the door, shooting a look of concern at the person in the doorframe.

"Relax…She just suffered from a small blackout. It comes natural with shocking events such as an old friend coming 'back from the dead' only to welcome them with hurtful words filled with hate and disdain," said a voice that I could immediately recognize as Velvet.

Clamoring and calamity between my friends ensued.

All of a sudden, a voice rings out in the middle of all the chaos.

"**Will all of you please shut up!? I feel like my ears are bleeding!**"

"…"

"Thank you."

Then I realized that without knowing it, I had just shouted angrily at my friends.

"Velvet. How and why are you here?"

"Oh…Um…All I know is that **someone **had forgotten to have my body properly embalmed, so I sat there, **dead as a doorknob** for a day. Then, I was dug up by the same person that killed me, and was taken back to the White Fang, where the needed blood was pumped into the body, and was given a pulse through those paddle things that shock you. I've forgotten what they were called…Defibrillators! That was it! I woke up as if I had woken up from a bad dream, and was given another chance. Now, I work with the more kind and caring branch of the White Fang that helps people who've been injured."

I had no idea what went through her head when she was given that decision. It's either "live life," or it's, "Work with the organization that killed you, and then conspired to murder the person that you lived with in your time on the streets of Vale." I don't think I'd take the latter.

"Well then. Anyway, we came here to find Adam Taurus. Do you know where we can find him?"

The crowd of the worried gaze had shifted to form a pathway to Velvet.

"Last I heard he was headed toward our old outpost near the University. I think I heard one of the workers here mention it in a conversation as 'Vac-U,' or Vacuo University."

Ruby butted in with, "Thanks for the tip. It's been nice seeing you again," but Velvet just looked at her, half confused, half angry.

"You what? I'm gone from the face of Remnant for years, and the most you drum up is 'nice seeing you again?' I'm coming with you! You'd get hopelessly lost without me."

"That is true. You do always seem to know your way around."

"And so we all set out for Vac-U, trying to find the smallest resemblance of a cure and—"

"That's all our time gone, Flower, time to go."

"S**t. Well, Easter's coming early for you guys. See you when I do."

**A/N: Man…Don't you guys just love exposition? I know I do! I think I'm also really bad at science fiction and ways to bring the dead back to life. If you think I'm not, say something about it in the reviews. After all, they are really appreciated.**


	7. Chapter Six: I'm Sorry

**Chapter 6: I'm Sorry**

**A/N: Hello readers! I'm back! I think that you'll like this chapter. I don't know why. I just got a feeling, you know? Also, just about half of the chapter is comedy, so yeah. Thanks again to KodaTheBeaver for the inspiration for the canon of events. I was actually thinking of following up on "Amnesiac" with something like a combo of that and the Player-choice driven game, **_**Life is Strange. **_**I felt like I just needed to do that, since it could totally work, what with the whole "Semblance" thing I could do with it. It fits as if they were pieces of the same puzzle. I just need to get Koda's permission first. I'll write it after I finish this story so don't worry about it. Thanks guys.**

* * *

Once again, the regulars at the campfire were surrounding it again. Only this time, they were without a storyteller.

"So," said one who couldn't bare the silence, "Do any of _us_ want to share a story?"

"Uh…Okay. One time, I tripped on a cat and twisted my ankle. I was drunk. Or at least, I'm not sure I was because I can actually remember what happened."

As the members shared their stories of woe and doom because of pets and alcohol, a small figure with a hood over its head walked toward the group from the bottom of the hill they were set upon. The guard, who was watching the perimeter had noticed this and pointed everyone to the source of the faint thumping noises coming from the east.

"Hey, is anyone else worried that the beige grim reaper is heading right toward us?"

No one responded.

The guard closed his eyes.

He opened them again, and all he saw were a pair of dark brown eyes staring back at him.

"_Who are you!?" _the guard shouted, obviously frightened out of his mind.

"Shhh-shh. I don't want to surprise your friends. I'm just as scared as you are. I won't hurt you. I haven't been able to ever physically hurt someone. _Emotionally_, however, I can do. And I can do that very well. Some people were grieving me before I had even died."

"So then I was all like 'giiiirl, whatchoo talkin abou'."

"I don't know. What are you all here for?"

All those who were new to the zombie apocalypse equivalent of the midnight society backed off, well away from the hooded figure. The others had recognized who had come. Their new storyteller.

"Happy Easter," the hooded figure said, rather cheerily.

"The f*** are you talking about?" asked one man in a slightly very much more saddened tone.

Not responding, the hooded figure threw its hood off, revealing brown, shining hair with eyes to match and a pair of awkwardly hanging rabbit ears, one of them slightly askew due to a long time under the hood.

"So? How about I share in your stories?"

"No, no…Go ahead, we want to hear yours. 'Flower' just ran off after she left us all with just, 'Vac-U' and, 'Easter's coming early.' Oh…Wait. Now I get it. Right, because the…Yes! It all makes sense now!"

"Lower your voice, man. I know you all need to shout just to hear yourselves, but please, remember who and what is with you here." She said, gesturing toward both her sets of ears.

* * *

So, Vac-U. Vacuo University. Lucky us, we had come prepared. We all had horses. Well, almost all of us. Ruby had to ride a donkey. She was in a tizzy about it for a long time.

"Why would you ever want something with a mind of its own bobbing up and down repeatedly with you on its back?" She'd say.

"C'mon. You know you always wanted to do this with me," I said before speeding in front of her and meeting with the rest of the group.

"Where's the fire?" Ruby said in a sort of dizzy, disoriented tone.

"You'll get used to it!" I shouted happily back to her.

"_You Damn Scarlet Velveteena!"_ I kind of felt sorry. She sounded drunk, she was so dizzy.

I ended up having to balance her, lying down across the back of my horse on top of the saddlebags. She fell asleep as soon as I set her down.

I said more to myself than I did to her, "I'm sorry about that."

* * *

We made it to Vac-U with Ruby sleeping like a baby on the back of my horse. We got off at the entrance to the parking lot and tied our horses to a lamppost. I tried to wake Ruby, but she wouldn't budge. She just laid there. I had to carry her. It was all funny, embarrassing, and also very pleasant, even though on a rare occasion, she would whisper in her sleep. It was sort of normal until she was dreaming about me. I heard her whisper my name, then she'd make these weird sighing noises and then I looked back and she was pretty much a tomato for a head, and a normal body…I had to keep an eye on her to see if this was a recurring thing.

We had made it to the main campus when we saw a very familiar sight. The Schnee family's crest. A bluish-white snowflake patterned coat of arms.

"Oh no. I don't think that this is going to end well," I said, nervously holding onto Ruby tighter.

"Ouch. Velvet? Why are you…"I heard Ruby trail off.

"What's wrong, Ruby? Are you embarrassed?"

"Oh. I see. That's the tone we're going for. Huh."

"You know, you whisper in your sleep?"

"What?"

"Yep. You went on about some things I didn't quite understand, and then you said my name, sighed a bunch, and then turned the same shade of red as your cloak."

"Uh-oh…I don't really know for sure, Velvet. I wonder what that could possibly mean."

"Well then," I said, half surprised, half expecting it, "I didn't know you swung that way. Are you like one of those lopsided pendulums?"

"Shut up, Velvet," she said bitterly. I knew she meant it in an endearing way though.

"Thank you."

* * *

We came upon a large arch. On top of it, it said in grimy, silver letters, "Dormitories and Recreational Park."

I was along with everyone else until I saw a figure in white standing by the fountain. She bowed her head in sorrow before I saw a single tear drop from her face. I told everyone else to stay back.

"Hello?" I questioned shakily, "Um…Weiss? Hello? Ms. Schnee?"

"They…they're all…all of them, they're…"

"What? Who is what?"

"_They're all dead! Mom, Dad, Winter, all of them! _They're dead. Gone. The most I can hope is to see them shambling around on the street. I can't do it. I can't even think about it. Help me. Please," the poor girl had turned to sob into my arms as I told her I would help. As far as I could tell, she seemed fine. At least, physically fine. Definitely not emotionally. I picked her up and swung her arm over my shoulder.

"Weiss, walk with me."

"…I'm sorry."

I walked her over to the rest of my companions, where she was rested on a bench. I talked in private with my friends.

"She seems healthy, nothing big to remark on except a couple scratches on her arm and her eye scar. The scratches look too small to be a bite. Probably either knife or nails. Her family is now infected, so she's in a state of emotional shock. I told her I would 'help them along,' so when she wakes up, make sure to leave that subject where it already broke down in a ditch."

* * *

I trudged around the halls of the dormitory building. It was a lot like one of those really suspenseful parts when the main character of a horror film is in the between zone of "are they going to live," or, "are they going to end up a mound of flesh sitting in a bloody sink with their spirit forever haunting the washroom mirror."

I checked from door to door, looking through the door's eyehole and placing my ear against the door to listen to the noise possibly coming from the inside. I heard something resembling a muffled, yet angry, "Help me," and immediately made my way to the sound.

A darker door than all the other's had shown itself, along with the Schnee company symbol on it. I heard the angry "Help me" more clearly now. I looked through the eyehole in the door and found a red eye with strange, yellow pupils looking straight back out at me. I jumped back, letting out a shrill squeak as I did. If the apocalypse didn't kill me, the jumpscares in it would. I slowly opened the door a crack and looked in. I saw a tall, yet hunched man, a tall woman with straight, snowy white hair and a short, gray haired girl with a small sword just barely hanging from her hand.

"Well…Welcome to the family," I said to myself in an attempt at dark humor.

A silver rapier was laying there at the doorstep. I picked it up, reminding me of the way I saw Weiss practice her fencing.

I thought to myself, "You can do this. Right foot forward, shoulders back, elbows bent, chin up. Wait for an attack…" But the attack never came. They stayed standing, like they were when I entered the room. I decided, "I'm sorry Weiss. I'll have to do it Ruby's way."

I took out an old switchblade. The tall one, the man, was easy. One in the back of the head and he was done. The woman, she shambled off to a corner and fell over. I felt bad. I felt like I was killing people and not those mindless sods. The kid though, she was the worst. She yelled and ran and the best I could get in on her was a large swipe across the arm. She ended up chasing me around the dorm hallways until she bled out. She was screaming by that time. She stopped before me after a slow crawl across the floor of what ironically was her dorm room. To this day, I still feel horrible about it.

* * *

I walked back to the outdoors to be greeted by my friends…minus Weiss and Lumin. I asked them what had happened.

"Weiss got into an argument with Lumin and stormed off into that trailer," said Blake.

"Well? Did any of you check on her at least?"

"Lumin went over to the trailer to try and apologize."

"Wonder why it's so quiet?"

"Not really…Why?"

"I'll show you in a minute. Just…Someone find me a gun."

I ran to the trailer, pistol in hand. I climbed on top of it, opened the escape hatch at the roof of it, and silently dropped in. In front of me, I saw a red eyed Weiss.

She stood there, not a word, not a sound, nothing. I took up my gun, seeing the intent to kill slowly return to her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

With the trigger pulled and the bullet now free, it made its way to the dark recesses of sadness that had become Weiss's mind through its own entrance at the point where the bridge of her nose met her forehead. It made a single, straight shot through her head, instantly dispatching the monster that Weiss had become. She fell in a pile on the floor. I looked behind me and I saw a sight I really did not want to see. I saw a bleeding Fox-man sitting in the driver's seat, holding his own neck.

I asked him what he wanted me to do.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he said.

He slumped over in his seat and I prepared my gun to shoot what he would soon become, but he never turned. We both sat there for a full two hours. Nothing. That's both what happened and what I had been feeling at that moment. Nothing.

"_I'm sorry."_

I was.

"_I'm sorry."_

First Weiss, then Lumin.

"_I'm sorry."_

I am too.


	8. Chapter Seven

**A/N: the last chapter title was, indeed, my apologies to those who like Weiss and the most frequent phrase of the chapter. My response to those who like Weiss can only be, WHY? I can sort of understand now that she isn't a completely stuck up, stereotypical rich kid, but I just don't understand why anyone liked her character the moment she was introduced. Anyway, I'm definitely not here to rant. I'm here to write. You're here to read. That's the way our small little world works. Also, to those of you who are wondering, Lumin bled out. He didn't turn. He had enough time to, but he didn't turn. When Velvet delivers this news to the group, they're going to have some questions. (The group now consisting of Ruby, Velvet, Blake and Yang.) [Funny. The abbreviation of Ruby, Velvet, Blake and Yang is: RVBY. Let it roll around in your head for a while that Velvet being on team RVBY would have made a huge difference. Especially the fact that saying "Team Ruby" still works with Velvet's V replacing Weiss' W.]**

* * *

I stumbled out of the door to the trailer that Weiss and Lumin had…kicked the bucket in. I was a bloody mess from shooting Weiss, and a sobbing, hot pile of mess from watching Lumin slowly die in front of me. It was dark. I was tired. Everyone was scared out of their minds. I was just lying on the cobblestone path. I watched as my chums all gathered up in a line in front of me. I watched as each of them slowly turned away from me and more toward the trailer.

"One enters. They leave, and then the next goes in. Say nothing about what you see. Not until I'm ready to forget what I saw and did and put it out into words."

I said that. It was slightly deeper and more assertive than what I was used to sounding like. I hated myself then. I had basically murdered the last four survivors of the Schnee bloodline and saw the leading cause of Weiss' change in personality slowly drain of the will to live. All in cold blood. I waited until all of them had seen what I had seen. Then, I ran off.

I ran. I ran and I never looked back. I ran until my lungs felt like shriveled up grapes and then ran some more. I stopped when I felt myself growing tired. I fell onto my back in the soft dirt and slept for what felt like forever.

* * *

"Velvet? Velvet wake up," said a muffled voice.

I opened my eyes, hoping that I had just fallen asleep in the dorm room of Weiss' sister and had yet to report back to her. Sadly, I woke up in the soft dirt with a dark haired figure with a strange shape above their head standing over me. Suddenly, my face was burning a bright shade of red. It was just me and Blake. She was great at finding people. I never really found out why until my eyes decided to come back to the land of the living.

"What? I-"

Blake stopped me from going any further, "Stop right there. I want to ask you something before you say anything. Why?"

"Why what? You saw his marks. He was bitten on the neck. Weiss had already turned. I shot her and he didn't turn. We were there for two hours before I tripped out of the trailer and ran."

"That doesn't make sense. Most people take two hours or less to turn."

"I know. You know what I'm thinking?"

Blake, deciding to humor me, said, "What are you thinking?"

"You said most _people_ take two hours or less to turn."

"Come again? I'm not sure I'm following."

"_People_ aren't _Faunus, _Blake. And vice versa."

"It is a human affliction, but I don't see how that adds up."

"On the contrary, my dearest cat-like compadre," I said, gesturing toward the pair of ears atop her head, "it is the only way that it would add up. If humans can get infected by the fungus, then why can't faunus? Have you ever seen a faunus zombie?"

"No."

"Exactly. I think that _we_ are _immune_."

"How and why, exactly?"

"_I don't bloody f**king know! I'm not a scientist, I'm a bloody medic! All I know is this is the only reasonable f**king explanation!_ Sorry. I get excited when I'm a bit too onto something as big as this._"_

We batted this back and forth for way too long, and before you knew it, we had already gone hours without heading back to the others to discuss our theory.

* * *

"So," Ruby said, "You think that, because Lumin had enough time to, but didn't turn, and the fact that we've never seen a faunus zombie, that faunus are immune to the shrooms?"

"Pretty much," I stated, matter-of-factly, "Also, I'm thinking of a real shot in the dark, here, but what do you think are the chances that we can find the cure if we were to mix the blood of one of those who are shuffling around with some faunus blood?"

"Very, very, very, very slim," Ruby said, dragging out the 'V' in the last 'very,' "But not impossible."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now all we need is a zombie that's been strapped down onto a table, Frankenstein style, a syringe, a faunus and a centrifuge."

I could almost hear Weiss, half shout-half whine, "Great. _That _shouldn't be hard to find at all."

It hurt.


	9. Chapter Eight

**A/N: Hopefully this will stop that typical Monday feeling right in its tracks. Guess what! I finally have set dates as to when I'm supposed to put up a new chapter! The next one should probably be up by the fourteenth of March. I just thought I'd let you guys know. Guess what else? I'm gonna continue with Velvet until probably next chapter, where her portion will end and maybe go to Yang or someone. Anyway, Enjoy!**

Our group was back on our horses. We trudged a couple miles along before Blake's "emergency phone" rang. She told us it was Sun.

I heard his muffled, excited voice blasting out of the speaker end of the phone.

Blake responded to whatever she was hearing with, "Yeah? What's up? I know it's something big if _you _called _me_."

Of the words I could make out, he said, "It's something big alright. Adam moved [garbled mess of words] somewhere, someplace up toward [more jumbled mess]. [Coughing, sputtering and laughing] _NEPTUNE!_"

"Alright then. Thanks again, Sun," Blake said, once again unfazed by her friend's antics.

I asked, "Blake, can I talk to him for a second?"

"Hold on, Sun, Velvet wants to talk to you."

I heard a perfectly audible "Uh-oh."

"So…Sun. How _has_ it been? How many have been treated since I left for this…business trip?"

A stifled voice sounded from the phone, saying, "Uhhh, NEPTUNE! How many people have left here healthy since Velvet left?"

An almost inaudible voice sounded out from a different room. It sounded like something from the thousands. Maybe more.

"He said just about eight thousand. I'd say we're doing fine on our own."

"I'm sorry to inform you, _Sun_, but it would seem that is _just about _one thousand and _one _less than what we were capable of before I left. Go back to your work before any more die of your carelessness. You're needed in the O.R. Doctor Free is waiting."

I heard him gulp down what sounded like the whole of his Adam's apple.

He said nervously, an easily-heard shake in his voice, "Y-yes Ma'am."

I heard a click, and suddenly I was talking to a wall. The talkative, yet silent person on the other line that is the dial tone.

"Hello? Ground control to Major Tom? Velvet? You somewhere you shouldn't be right now?"

"What?" I asked confused as I suddenly snapped back into existence.

"I said, '_are you in your own head right now?_'" said a large mass of yellow.

"Wait. Yang? Did I space out again?"

"Yup. I totally nailed that David Bowie joke."

Yang. Always quick with a joke. She was always a bit cheesy, but she was good for a laugh if you haven't heard her material.

"Yang, snap out of it. You're back in the 1900's. You need to exit the matrix. Neo, you're going in too deep! Get out of there! Wake up, damn you!"

"Oh? Hello? I'm sorry. I just didn't think it was PC to tell you that I think that [obvious fake coughing noise] I'm dying of stupidity and other comedic ailments."

"Of course it's politically correct you ninny!"

"So," Yang jested, "is it also PC if I were to say that all male faunus are total assholes?"

I heard the clinking of metal upon metal, knowing that noise could only be Blake.

"A – Freaking – Men, sister. Also, get out of the 90's. PC is a very touchy subject in that time."

I stated confidently, "Yang, Blake, you both know that everything is PC now. It's the apocalypse! Nothing matters anymore! No-one to tell you 'no.' Nothing to stop you from driving on a full tank of gas as far cross country as possible, as fast as you want. You're free to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. My motto from the start of the end was, 'If I'm to die today, I'm going to die knowing that I've done all there is to do.'"

"S**t Velvet, you're so deep I can't even see you anymore."

"Yang, shut up. Pretty please?"

Blake put on a strange Russian accent, "Dee feesikull appearance off dee _please _does not change anytink."

"Blake?" I asked, "Since when were you the funny one?"

"I'm allowed, aren't I?"

"Ruby?"

"Yes Velvet?"

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"Of course, Velvet. If I didn't know, we would have passed that orange rock that we marked only _four times _now_._"

"Oh. Because Blake actually does know where we're going."

"_Well why didn't she f**king say anything? We've been going in circles for hours!_"

Blake joined in, "Because you looked the same shade as your clothes, so I didn't want to make you even angrier."

"_You made me angrier not telling me until now! My eyes are burning from looking at that GOD DAMNED ROCK FOR HOURS!"_

"Okay! Jesus, lady! He's gone up north toward a hospital in a small city kind of like back home."

"_Did we get. The goddamned hospitals. Goddamn name."_

"No. We 'goddamn' didn't get the name of the 'goddamn' hospital."

Yang once again attempted a joke, "So when do we get to Goddam Memorial Hospital? Also, do we know who Goddam is? He sounds really interesting."

"Well…" I tried, "Uhh. Sorry, Ruby?"

"Damn it. You know I can't stay mad at you, Velvet."

"That's what I'm here for."


	10. Chapter Nine: Thanks

**Chapter nine: Thanks**

**A/N: Hello again! It's Pyg with some good news. I made my deadline earlier than expected again! Anyway, we're going to have some humor in the beginning, but we're going to get serious by the end of the second line break.**

"Our storyteller's a bit late tonight for whatever reason. Until then, talk amongst yourselves. Just…" The guard sighed as a rock flew past his head.

"…Be patient."

"Hello?" said a voice, "Anyone home?"

"Velvet. Thank God. Where've you been?"

"Sorry I'm late, _mom. _Keep your pants on. I ran here after stopping at home for a piss."

The 'guardian angel' of the group around the fire burst out laughing.

"What? I'm allowed!" said Velvet, both a bit annoyed and a bit confused.

"Sure…You are…heh. Just go. I need water or something," he said, doubled over in laughter.

"One more thing before I go. Are you fond of bird watching?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because I see a _really _interesting one right…here," Velvet said, giving the guard the finger.

"Really creative. I haven't heard that one before. Go on in," he said sarcastically.

We were back on our horses again, trudging blindly to the north.

"So…Blake," I said innocently, "How do you know Adam?"

I had no idea how she did. She always kept quiet whenever he was mentioned.

"I…It's complicated."

"Complicated how?" I asked as I perked up my ears, making sure she'd give in to telling me.

"It was…It just is. It's a long story."

"We've got a long way to go before making it there, so Blake…Please?"

"I can't say no to that face."

"I know you can't. Nobody else can."

Blake. She knew exactly when it was time to give up. I was grinning madly after she admitted defeat.

"You know I can't say no to you. You look way too adorable. Even now."

"The ears are a blessing and a curse, Blake. You know it."

"Okay. Well. We were once partners. Before the s**t hit the fan, we were partners in the White Fang."

"I'm assuming that running away wasn't in your best interest?"

"No. But I had to. We had placed explosives on the train and Adam showed no remorse if we were to have a few hundred people's innocent blood on our hands. I unlinked the two pieces that held my train car to his. I never saw him since."

"Oh. Okay. Well, in light of those events, I think we've found the entrance to our city."

I got off my horse and stood proudly in front of a large sewage grate.

"It'll be hell to pay on our noses, but at least it's a way in," I said.

"Yich. I think I just saw that brown thing move."

"Ruby, Please. You aren't making the smell better by complaining about it."

"You're funny. I just wanted to warn you about a piece of…Something. Moving around on the floor."

"Well, think of it this way. If it smells that bad to you, imagine how bad it is to me."

"Sorry, Velvet."

"It's fine. I'm just as happy as you are, and I'll be more than happy as soon as we get out of here. This being what it is. A literal s**thole."

I heard a muffled Blake, who was trailing behind, say "Amen, sister!"

After that, it was just silence. So silent that you could hear a pin drop into a bed of soft feathers.

Then, out of nowhere, a loud voice came through the makeshift intercom that was installed. Whoever lived here must have been paranoid.

"Hello? Hello, hello? Uh…Hi! Welcome to the city under the city. I didn't expect to see you all so soon. We're still setting up," despite his opening words, he spoke in a tone that could calm most anyone.

"Who's there?" I asked shakily, startled by the voice.

"Relax, Velveteen Rabbit. You'll find me soon enough. I'll even give you and your group of fairy tales a fair chance. I'm in a room with a sign on it that says 'Surveillance crew only.' You'll see me then. The door is colored red. Can't miss it."

"You're challenging us, yet you're helping us?"

"I'm an ally, but I was once your former enemy. I'm here, I'm there, and I'm blowing up a fair. Savoir Faire is everywhere…If everywhere were a red door with 'Surveillance crew only' on it. Tah tah for now!"

"What do you suppose we do now," I asked no-one in particular, "We can't find him."

"Sleep through the night?" questioned Ruby.

"Umm, I don't really see how that would help our current situation, but okay," said Blake.

"Well, that settles it then," cheerily chimed Yang.

"Where the hell were you?" I quietly asked.

"What are you talking about? I've been here this whole little adventure."

"You never said anything, though. It's just a bit…Out of character, you know?"

"No. Let's just get to sleep."

"Agreed."

_The next morning_

"HELLO again, girlies! I'm back again to give you another clue. Take a left and go through the air vent closest to you."

I never thought about the air vents.

"AIR VENTS!? When were those available to use?"

"When I waited all night for you four to get here."

"Point taken. Thanks!"

We did as the voice said, and one by one we realized just how bad a mistake it was to take the sewers into town. The person who aided us was none other than an older, paler, and possibly wiser, Roman Torchwick.

"The rabbit's a bit late for the mad hatter's tea party, but the good news is, you follow instructions. Good enough. Now that you're all here, not trying to kill me, hear me out."

I heard behind me, the murmurs of my friends.

"Hello? He's a criminal! Why would we 'hear him out?'"

"Because he knows what's happening. If he can get us to Adam, I'd say he's fine."

"I can't be sure. He kinda looks different. Kinda like an old grandpa who wants to help his kids. He seems to be able to be trusted."

"Hey! I heard that one! I want to help, but nobody calls me grandpa!"

I say, before everyone can adjourn their court, "I think we should listen. He sounds more likeable in this tone of voice."

"See! I knew at least _one_ of you would understand! Thank you! What's your name?"

"Velvet."

"Say, Velvet, have you ever come across a strange, leather-bound book on your travels?"

"Sure. What do you need it for?"

"I need it to confirm a theory."

As he flipped through the pages, I noticed he was moving his mouth to match what he was reading. From what I read off of his mouth movements, it was in another language.

"Have any of you come across a faunus infected?"

"No…Why?"

"Can any of you read this?"

"Let me see if I can. Faunus verkar ha en viss immunitet mot svampen kallas cordyceps. Dessa varelser har vi skapat det ska döda människor som vi har förlorat svampen. It means, 'The Faunus people have certain immunity to the disease known as cordyceps. These creatures we have created should be able to kill off the humans we have lost to the fungus.' Strange. The picture here refers to a Beowulf."

"And that, my dear friends, is why I needed that book. I knew that fungus had to have done something to the Faunus, or vice versa, in order to make them immune. Either that, or it's natural immunity. Then, to have the faunus create the creatures of Grimm, such as the Beowulf, to fend off the Cordyceps, this must have happened before."

"I saw it firsthand. My friend, Lumin, he died from a bite, but had enough time to turn. I waited to shoot him, but he never turned. I thought of the possibility of us being immune, so thank you for proving it."

"Now that we've confirmed everything, all we need are the necessary supplies to reverse-engineer a cure. Including restraints for a live, fungus/human specimen."

A voice from behind me and Torchwick whispered softly in our ears, "Back away from her, before you won't be able to use your legs to go anywhere at all."

"Ruby! He's trying to help! Just let him do what he can! It seems like our theory could work. If you'd just get it through your heads that people can be made better through suffering, you'd be able to figure out that he's able to _save mankind_. Think guys, _save mankind_! How amazing would it be to do that, and have it, for once, not F**KING HAVE IT BLOW UP IN OUR FACES!?"

"Velvet. I'm sorry…I just…didn't know that you…could just do that. Just trust someone you know was once a wanted man on accounts of many different thieveries, injuries, and more."

"He's changed, Ruby. Just give us a couple more days after the equipment is ready, and then start to doubt us. That is, if we haven't found a cure yet."

"C'mon guys. Let's let them work. Maybe we can find some supplies for them before their delivery."

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."


	11. Chapter Ten: I Understand

**Chapter 10: I Understand**

**A/N: Hello again. Sadly, next chapter is the last one. Do not despair, though. There will be an epilogue. Enjoy.**

"Hey! Everyone quiet down. Since last session was a bit extreme, Velvet has decided to take a break and head back home. In her stead, Ruby is back."

A half of the crowd cheered. The other stayed dead silent.

"Uh…Hello again! How is everyone?"

Indiscernible words were shouted over each other.

"That's…uh…That's great! So, what happened while Velvet was here?"

"You left to go get supplies for her and Torchwick so they didn't need to waste too much supply from their delivery," said a voice in the crowd.

"Thank you. Huh. Supply run…Oh yeah!"

We were all running down each and every hallway of the sewers, finding junk, food, and a couple syringes. Yang found some cleaning fluid to sterilize the needles. We had to refer to her as "Mrs. Clean" for the rest of the time we were out there.

The most important find was an old chair. It had cuffs at the armrests and at the legs of the chair.

"Yang? Blake? I think this is alright for a 'restraint for the fungus/human specimen' that they needed."

They both walked over, and in unison, said, "Perfect."

"Okay, shopping list now: Test subject and a centrifuge that's in working condition."

"Shouldn't be too hard for you girls. Thanks for understanding, by the way," said Torchwick on the loudspeaker.

"No problem. I want this thing to stop just as much as you do. I've already lost enough people I know."

"Again, thanks. By the way, the 'test subject' is probably going to be strapped onto a gurney to begin with from the delivery. The only thing you need to worry about now is that centrifuge."

I knew Velvet had her reasons for doing what she was, working to find a cure with Torchwick, but I had my reasons too. I just wanted this thing to end. All of it. Go back to normal. Although it wouldn't be 'normal' normal, we wouldn't have those 'things' roaming around anymore.

But, when I turned a corner, I was met with a flash of light. To be more precise, a flashlight shining right in my face.

To have a flashlight anywhere, there had to have been someone attached to it. I looked around, hand up to the light, so as not to blind myself.

"Sorry about the light. We were just passing through. We didn't know you were…Wait. Names, please?"

"Well…I can't really see right now, but when I can see again, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna are going to get on your case."

"Ummm…Ruby, it's someone familiar…I think you might remember me from school? Tall? Blonde? Blue-eyed? Always wore a sweatshirt, no matter how cold or hot it was? Remember me?"

"If I did, I'd be able to recognize your voice. None of my friends had a deep voice like that, unless you're Ren," I said, still blinded.

"Uh…Ruby? Ren's dead."

"Oh…Sorry. I…Uhhh. Who are you again? I still can't see."

The deep voiced man let out a sigh and said, "Remember how you all saw me in Forever Fall? The bear? Cardin getting his ass handed to him by the bear?"

"Wait…You…Don't tell me. You're…I have no idea."

Which was said just as I regained my sight. I opened my eyes to see a smiling Jaune Arc. Only, he had armor on. Knight's armor minus the helmet, leggings and arms.

"My God, man! You have a beard! And you sound like a smoother version of Morgan Freeman!"

"Well…A lot of things can happen in three to five years. It took three for the voice. Five for the beard. It was so worth it though."

If Jaune was here, then I knew who would appear next.

"Hello again!"

"Pyrrha!"

Looking at Pyrrha, nothing had changed very much. She was still shorter than Jaune and even her voice was the same. Other than that, she had only changed her clothing. She went from normal by our standards, to normal by normal's standards. She was wearing a plaid, button-up shirt with blue jeans. Nothing special.

"So…Where's Weiss?"

"She's…"

"Oh. I understand."

"But the good news is that Velvet is still alive! She's actually working in the surveillance lab on a cure, but needed a few things before she could get started."

"What were they?"

"Syringes, disinfectant, a chair or table with restraints on it, a faunus, a zombie and a centrifuge. She's a faunus, a zombie is going to come strapped to a gurney at the next delivery of supplies, we've picked up syringes, and Yang or 'Mrs. Clean' found the disinfectant, so now all we need is a centrifuge that's in working condition."

"Oddly specific. That's actually the list of supplies we were given to deliver to a man working on a cure in that same room. By the name of Roman Torchwick."

"They've agreed to work together."

"Soo…You'll only need the centrifuge and the one on the gurney?"

"Yeah, I guess so. You wanna join us? We've been sent on a mission by 'Sir Ozpin' knight of the square table, to find the cure to this wretched plague."

"We'd love to, Ruby, but we've got our own lives to live."

"You won't have to live like that."

Jaune and Pyrrha slowly turned around to face me before they walked off. I thought I struck a nerve.

Jaune, clearly rattled by my words, asked, "Say again?" while Pyrrha was simply looking at us in disbelief.

"This cure. It's gonna change the world. We'll be able to go home again. Back home. Back to Vale. Back to Beacon."

"Ruby, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but things just won't be like old times. They'll be different. _We'll _be different," said Yang, surprising everyone.

"Ruby, it just won't be like old times."

"YES IT WILL! It has to be. Just pick up where we left off. You know, like a checkpoint in a videogame."

Torchwick cut in on the loudspeaker, "Sorry, Red. Goldilocks is right. You're all gonna have to restart. There are no save-games, there are no checkpoints. Just the restart button. We have to rebuild everything. Or else we'll be going back to doing exactly what we've been doing in this s**thole in the first place."

"Take the gurney and the centrifuge. When you've proved us wrong, we'll stand by you. 100 percent."

_When you've proved us wrong…Just the restart button…It just won't be like old times…Ren's dead…We'll be different..._**"No. No it will be like old times. We'll be exactly where we were before this all happened. Vale. The heart. Where it all started," I thought.**

"I have to go."

"We all have places to be. We understand. In fact, we'll be right behind you. We want it to be like it was, but we can't make it exactly like it was. We're missing a team member. Team JNPR's missing two. Your brother is gone. He wanted to help people. You, more than anyone. The least you can do is let us help you. Let us help you. Let _him_ help you."

"Blake, I…" I began to say, stopping myself to say something else.

"I understand," I said, a determined look on my face with tears in my eyes.

"Then go get these to Torchwick and Velvet."

"I understand."


	12. Chapter Eleven: The End of The End

**Chapter 11: Finale – The End of The End**

**A/N: Today marks the day I complete my first story. Although, it will technically be incomplete until I release the epilogue, broken up into mini-epilogues for each character. All who have reviewed or even just took the time to look at the prologue, Thank you. I want to specially thank Monty Oum (God rest his soul) for such an amazing piece of work, worthy of many more seasons. I'd also like to thank KodaTheBeaver for a good read and his story, **_**Amnesiac **_**for giving me that little spark to start my career in writing my stories. I want to also thank anyone who followed me or my story through this time. It has been a wonderful experience to finally show someone my works, let alone the world. Thank you for your time. Expect another chapter, epilogue, soon.**

"Hello?" Said Velvet, running up to the group.

"Velvet? I thought you were done telling your portion of the story. Why are you coming back?" asked Ruby.

"I thought I told you that when I was ready, I'd be here as soon as I could."

"Point taken. Take the stage."

"Roman?" I said to grab his attention, "How long until that supply delivery gets here?"

"Oh. They said they'd be here by today. Tomorrow, at the latest."

"Oh…Okay. What now?"

"What now? I don't know. I'm feeling a bit sleepy actually."

"Okay, grandpa. Just promise me that when you find a white light in your dream, you won't go toward it. I want to be able to find and give out a cure with a partner instead of by myself. Like all famous people say at some point, 'it gets lonely at the top.'"

"I promise."

"Okay."

"…And Velvet?"

"Yes?"

"Does this mean we're on good terms? Like, as in friends?"

"…Sure."

"Thanks."

"You know what, Roman?"

"What do I know?"

"I think you're a good person."

Even though he tried to cover it up with feigning sleep, I knew he was silently weeping. I had been his first and only friend in the end of the end. The final days of the apocalypse.

Hours later, Ruby burst in through the surveillance room door.

"VELVET, TORCHWICK! WE'VE GOT YOUR SUPPLIES!"

"Jesus, Red. You nearly gave an old man a heart attack. What's worse is, I was sleeping."

"Get over it, grandpa. Ruby, thank you. One question. What happened out there? Why the sudden rush of 'I've got to get this to the scientists?'"

"I have three reasons. Reason one: I just wanna go home. Reason two: I had an epiphany and had to do what I had to do with a lot of drama. Reason three is slightly off topic: I REALLY NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM!"

Ruby was miraculously back to her old self. Her funny, carefree, old self.

"Okay Gramps. This is very dangerous, so I need you to help me with this. The centrifuge is balanced properly, we have our supplies, and I've calculated how much needs to be injected into the patient in order for the cure to work. Have all the horse-tail plants been set in the corners of the room?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. I need you to take this syringe and fill it halfway with the subject's blood. Then, I want you to take this other one and fill it halfway with my blood. Put these on the centrifugal disk and spin them until the blood separates from the plasma. From there, put them into one tube and spin it again until they mix."

"Right."

From there, it was a blur of running around, finding things we needed, a couple screeches from our test subject when they were having their blood taken, and a lot of shouting to one another about what'll happen afterwards. Then, we looked over at the centrifuge, powering down. It was an orange-ish mix, sort of resembling carrot soup. I grabbed the tube and bottled it up. Then, Torchwick took up one of the needles we reused and had the experimental cure injected into the subject. When they first came in contact with it, the subject started to shake uncontrollably, but after a couple seconds, went limp. The formations of mushroom suddenly cracked off of the subject's face, head and other important parts.

"Who – Where am I?" asked a man with black hair, a strange brown streak running through it.

"IT WORKS! Roman! It works! We did it! We've found the cure!" I said, merrily cheering.

"You're right. It does work…Who is he, though?"

"Hello? Hello? You still haven't answered my question. Can any of you two tell me where I am?"

"Oh," I said, "Please forgive my shouting. You're in the first lab in Vacuo to find a cure for the Cordyceps."

Roman asked the man, "What's your name, kid?"

"I…Uh…Ren. Why?"

A knock came from the direction of the door.

"Come in!" I shouted.

Jaune, clearly agitated by my shouting, asked, "I understand you're trying to find a cure and all, but just what the hell d'you think you're-"

He stopped himself before he could finish.

"Ren? I-I-I-I had no idea we were wheeling you in for testing. If I had known, I would have been gentler with that gurney."

"Wheeling me in? Testing? Gurney? What are you all talking about?"

I was growing a bit impatient with Ren, and so I said, "Long story short, you became a mushroom head, so I used your blood and my blood to reverse engineer a cure for your case of shrooms that's been ravaging the world."

"So…That thing that was on that table was…on my face? How could I see?"

"It's complicated. All we needed to know is that it works."

Another knock at the door. I opened the door for them this time.

"Ruby! We did it! Even better, the test subject we had was Ren! Now JNPR's only missing one member."

"And who might that be?" asked Ren.

"Nora…She…You kinda turned…She locked you in your room…Then she kinda…Didn't want to live anymore."

"Oh…"

"It's alright. We've found a cure. Let's all go back and tell Ozpin. Roman. Do you have spare horses? We've only got four."

"I think we have just enough for all of us."

(Switch to Ruby's perspective.)

"…And if what you're saying is true, then Velvet, a member of a reformed branch of the White Fang, and Roman Torchwick, International Criminal, came up with a cure using the theory that faunus are immune to the fungus."

"That's correct."

"Send them in. I need to see proof."

"Of course. Roman! Velvet! Come show Oz your test subject!"

"On it!" they both shouted back in unison.

Ren walked in, marks on his face where the fungus was originally sitting atop his head.

Ozpin began to inspect him, poking an infection inspection machine wherever he could. That is, until Ozpin finally backed away, for once in his life, he looked satisfied. Happy, almost.

"He's clean. I knew I could trust you all. Velvet. Since you've decided to reenter society as a citizen, you may go with Ruby back to the apartment complex and pack your bags. As for you, Mr. Torchwick, where did you gain the knowledge of medicine?"

"Nowhere. Your friend there, Velvet taught me how to do this. I just theorized that faunus were immune and she made it into what it was."

"Well. In that case, could you ask her something when you see her again? I have an offer I'd like to propose. Maybe you could be her assistant."

Then, Ozpin whispers into Roman's ear something inaudible. His eyes widen, and then his face turns to that of understanding.

"Of course. I, for one accept the offer. I'll have to ask her if she's okay with that."

(Back to Velvet)

We were all so excited to return home. Although, we all had a sense of dread as to seeing how badly civilization back home had been damaged.

"How do you think it'll be back home, Ruby?"

"Don't know, don't wanna know. I just wanna get there so I can find out."

"Same here–"

"Amen, sister–"

"mhmm. I hear you. Also, when did you two get here?"

"We're Ruby's teammates, remember?" They all shouted together, perturbed by my lack of remembrance.

The four of us all headed home. Not to the apartments, though. Back home to Vale. With a cure in tow as well.

That was the day the end had met its end.


	13. Ruby Rose and Her Other Half- Epilogue 1

**Epilogue Part 1 – Ruby Rose and Her Other Half**

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back! Even better, the story will go on for a little while longer, so the main characters can have their own epilogue chapter and so that the epilogue chapter isn't a million words long. Anyway, Ruby has her epilogue chapter here, so enjoy.**

**3 years after the cure for the Cordyceps was found**

Ruby Rose was late to rise on the first day of the year After Apocalypse 3. A.A. 3 for short.

As she sat up and stretched gently, she stared around the room, open-mouthed due to a silent yawn. She noticed a cup of steaming hot something on her nightstand.

"Are you finally awake?" asked a voice from another room, sounding like it was coming from another world.

"Yep!" she shouted, still half asleep. She was curious as to what the cup on her nightstand was, so she asked loudly, still with her door shut, "What's this cup here for?"

The 'other-world' voice responded, loud clanks and crashes smashing through the pauses in its speech, "That's tea. After I'm done cooking, meet me in the lounge."

"Electric's back on?"

"Yeah! They just fixed it yesterday!"

Ruby got up from her comfy mattress, deciding to once again join the land of the living. After all, she had found herself someone to give her a reason to join it day after day. She opened the door only to be blinded by the intense light of morning. She had a serious headache on top of it all.

She asked, covering her eyes with one hand, fumbling around with the other, "Do you still have Coco's shades? My eyes are burning."

"Medicine cabinet," was the only response she got, immediately understanding it.

_Shades, shades, shades. If I were a pair of shades wrongly placed into the medicine cabinet, where would I be?_ She thought to herself.

She heard a high pitched squeal, followed by, "ow, ow ooooww, oh-ho-ho, ow!"

"What's wrong? Stubbed your toe?"

"No…I burned my finger…"

"You alright?"

"It's not like my hair's on fire! It just really stings…"

Ruby chuckled lightly to herself as she put on the shades. As she did, she opened her iron colored eyes to the world for the first time since…last night, which for some reason, she couldn't remember.

"Yang must be rubbin' off on me."

_When did I get back home last night? Who even drove me home? I live in the woods? Who even knows where we live?_

"Ruby! Didn't I tell you not to keep spacing out like that? I was telling you what happened, since you appear to have what we grown-ups call a 'hangover.'"

"I'm twenty-something! I'm allowed!" Ruby whined.

"I know you are, but that is no excuse for suddenly disappearing from the window as we went to bed to go out partying with your sister at 4:30 in the goddamn morning," her companion said harshly, yet somehow sounding kind.

"I know…I'm sorry…"

"…I can't stay mad at you."

As her friend wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulder, the doorbell to their quiet cabin rang.

"That's weird…We don't usually get visitors. When we do, it's usually the-"

A small crowd of people were standing on their doorstep, shouting nonsense at the door holding tightly to their cameras and boom mikes and other equipment.

"Shit…The news is after an interview again."

"You didn't tell me that this kept happening!"

"I was as surprised as you were that they showed up. At least they were polite enough to ring the bell this time."

Ruby's comrade walked toward the door, earning screams of glee from the crowd outside. Ruby followed her friend; for fear that something bad would happen again.

There were at least four or five different news stations on their porch.

"Velvet! Where were you when you found the cure? When did you find out that Ren was your patient?"

"Velvet! Is it true that you worked with Roman Torchwick to find the cure? How was he? Was he any different from what he was before?"

As Ruby was about to shout, Velvet had covered her mouth and said to the crowd of news crews, "I have an idea! If you would all kindly SHUT UP," quieting the crowd, she continued, "We can get our interview rolling. But first, my idea. As to not create chaos or confusion of any kind, I will speak very slowly. How about this: You all beat the living shat out of each other, and whoever wins gets an exclusive interview with me and my lovely, in our house. I'll say it again…If you beat every other station's crew _and equipment _into the ground, then _exclusive interview for you_."

Upon hearing this, a short man with frog eyes jumped up to meet the face of VNN's Lisa Lavender, to sock her across the jaw.

Ruby fell over, both in sheer shock and in a pure fit of rib-agonizing laughter.

"Say whatever, it was a brilliant plan. I've called up your sister and she apologized about the fact that she drove straight through the garage door at 6:00 in the morning with you riding on the back of the cycle."

"Thanks. Got any alkaseltzer?"

"Medicine cabinet."

"Thanks, Velv. I need a movie and I need some sleep."

"I put out the tea so it would calm your headache. It's getting cold out anyway. Let's sit down and see what's on the tele."

"Sounds fun. Can we watch something funny? Those kinds of movies help my headaches quick. Not sure why."

"Sure."

"OMIGOD THANK YOU…Ohhhh, Velvet…Thanks. You're great."

"Love you too."

**A/N: I just couldn't leave this alone. As you can see by the title, this is the first of the epilogues of this story. I'm not sure how many there'll be, but it will end off with a bit of a cliffhanger ending…maybe. As for that headache thing and the movie, that happens a lot. Whenever I got a headache, I'd sit down to a funny movie and suddenly, the headache just goes away. Is that weird? This little boat has been sitting in the docks for a while, so I thought I'd give the old Scarlet Rabbit ship a little sail around the bay. Tell me how you liked it.**


	14. Epilogue 2

**Epilogue Part 2 – Goldilocks, Chesire, Little Red and the Broken Garage Door**

**A/N: I legitimately have no idea what I'm writing right now. I'm just sorta winging it, so I apologize if the quality of this epilogue chapter wasn't what you were expecting. First section up until the second line break is Blake, then it's Yang.**

* * *

The music was blaring. Every night, that's always what it was doing. This night, it was particularly bothersome because it got to the point where the bassy vibrations emanating from the ground started to knock over things on the shelves. All of my books were strewn all over the floor. There I was, on my bed, bouncing involuntarily due to the booming music, seething in silent rage.

I said calmly to myself, "Well, you knew it would come to this when you agreed to let Yang open her _own _club, but really? Right under your own apartment is not good for the structural integrity of the building."

"You know, I honestly think that you're starting to go crazy. Insomnia getting to you?"

"No, insomnia I can live with. It's the things that come packed with it is what's driving me to the breaking point."

"Did you even realize that you're actually talking to someone? Hello? Blake? Are you there? You need help. You keep spacing out, and I don't think it's from that book."

The voice was right. I _was _talking to someone. Lie Ren. He sat at the bar in the kitchen, sipping at a mug that he called his 'shot glass.'

"Ask me all you want. We are staying exactly where we are. Roommates. That is all we are and that is all we will ever be. Don't even try it. I even know where you planned to go. Downtown café? Seven o'clock?"

"And how did you know?"

"You never stopped fussing over it with Jaune over the phone."

"I'll repeat my question. Also, why not? We have similar interests."

"I wire-tapped your phone. Also, we'd be _similarly _boring as hell."

"Clever girl," remarked Ren, taking another swig of his mug.

I heard yelling and a familiar yelp. The yelling was Yang to a third, unknown person. The yelp was unmistakably Ruby.

"I'd better make sure things don't get out of hand."

"I'll wait. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"That reminds me. Can you pick those books off the floor?"

"Okay, _mom_."

* * *

"So…What happened?"

"This _freak_ is creepin' on my sister!"

"Yang…Ruby can handle herself. And that's no freak. That's your old 'friend.' Remember him? The guy that you totally crushed the balls off of?"

"Oh yeah…Huh. Junior! You, sir, just earned yourself a 'get out of jail free' card. In the form of something special. A visit from my five friends, thumb, pointer, middle, ring and pinky."

Junior is then thrown out of the door from a blast at Yang's wrist.

"YANG!" Shouted an extremely annoyed, agitated voice, "THOSE THINGS ARE STRICTLY EXPERIMENTAL!"

"Sorry, sis. Junior just needed a time out."

"Seems your material hasn't improved in the slightest."

The extremely annoyed, agitated voice trailed into the room following the body of an absolutely wasted image of Ruby Rose.

"I know I'm designing some super crazy s**t along with that, but that is no excuse for shooting f**kers out of your club with a _super importantly secret EXPERIMENTAL WEAPON that is strapped to your wrist._ You could have taken your entire hand off if you weren't careful!"

"I'm sorry, see; it's just not every day that, as part of an experiment, you normally walk around with _shotguns duct taped to your arms! _It's pretty freakin' sweet!"

This whole scene was just too much for me to bear, so I intervened.

"You know what else would be sweet? If you drove her home, seeing as how Ruby, here, is totally smashed."

"But what about the club?"

"I could do with some _sleep _tonight, thank you. We'll be closing early."

* * *

20 mph

"So, Ruby. I forget where you live again. Where was it?"

40 mph

"At the cliff, wood cabin, above the garage door, it says 'the rabbit hole.' That is not something to be taken the wrong way, _Yang._"

60 mph

"We're nearly there. You might want to start holding onto my back."

80 mph

"We just got on your bike, and now we're nearly there? I wanted to talk to you more!"

100 mph

"Do you have something to flip up your garage door? A remote or something?"

120 mph

"No, why? Also what time is it?"

140 mph

"It's 4:30 in the morning, and we're about to wake up your girlfriend by crashing horribly straight through your garage door."

160 mph

"Eh. It's okay, as long as you pay for property damage, she's fine."

0 mph

"WHO'S THERE? IS ANYONE IN THE HOUSE? RUBY? WAS THAT YOU?"

"Crap…I gotta go sis. See you tomorrow. I have to go get chewed out by Velvet while I pass out onto the bed and forget everything that happened, including the medical bill for Ol' man Junior."

"Tell me how it goes tomorrow afternoon. See ya. I gotta go get into a world of pain with Blake."

* * *

**A/N: For those who need clarification, Yang started a nightclub in her apartment building's basement, under Blake's apartment, where Ren lives in fear of getting thrown into living with Jaune. Prefering the former to the latter, Ren has, once or twice tried to ask out Blake, but to no avail. As I mull that over in my head, slowly realizing just how stupid that sounds, I'll see you next chapter, for the final epilogue.**


	15. Pumpkin Pete and the Blooming Rose

**Epilogue Part 3 – Pumpkin Pete and the Blooming Rose**

**A/N: Yeeeeaaah…Same day, same situation, absolutely winging it. I'll edit it afterwards so it doesn't stink like a rotting corpse. Note: I'M SO SORRY! I can kinda do that sometimes. I just wasn't feeling it when I started this chapter, but I want it to be out at least a little after the Blake and Yang chapter. This one is a couple years after the other epilogues and it's going to be pretty fun. In this chapter, society has completely resettled into living in a civilized manner. Also, dust was, before this, used as a form of currency and that only. In this chapter, everything about dust, including its energetic features has been discovered. Also, if you noticed last chapter, the description Ruby gave Ember Celica was "highly experimental," meaning that I meant for the entirety of this story, not including this chapter, to be strictly modern times weapons only, meaning before season one even started. Enjoy.**

* * *

Flashes from the crowd's cameras blinded me. I was walked to a seat by a wall, heavily guarded by men I had made weapons for. I sat down in the seat and was bombed by questions. A shrill whistle sounded from behind me, signaling the crowd to silence.

"Before I begin, the rules are as follows: No questions concerning the past events of humanity as a whole. I will take personal questions and any others about my skills in manufacturing weapons."

A brown haired, brown eyed Rabbit faunus sat down next to me, and shouted to the crowd in a shy tone, "You may begin."

Conferences like this were exactly what I hated about being too good at what I do. Weapons…You can't live with them, but you can't live without them. Quite literally.

I called on a particularly angry newscaster from VNN.

"I'd like to ask a question to Ms. Scarlatina."

"Fire away, Lavender."

"Why did you provoke us all into fighting over you two on your own porch?"

"Because it was fun to watch professionals act so unprofessionally."

"Next question, Lavender."

"For Ruby, What are your views on the faunus-human racial tension?"

"What do you think, Lavender?"

"You support the faunus?"

"No…I think that both sides have convincing arguments, but that fighting over it will bring it no end. All this fighting and killing and hurting and blackmailing are all pointless. It's all so stupid. Just because someone has a spare pair of ears doesn't mean they should be punished. And to the Protestors for faunus rights, just because someone hates you for the sake of hating you doesn't mean that they can't be forgiven."

* * *

_I mean, besides…What good will fighting do if all that was required were a few choice words and a piece of paper? We'd be at the mercy of the third party, the neutral one. The "simple soul," if you will._

A small shop shone brightly in the darkness of uptown Vale, now cleansed of the monstrosity it had become. _From Dust Till Dawn_ was its name. Ever since the Schnee Dust company started up in the year 10 After Apocalypse, (10 A.A.) the market for the newly discovered energy propellant had boomed. Although, it wasn't popular with everyone, like it would soon become.

A girl in a white cloak was sitting at the back of the shop, reading an article on the uses of combat scythes. She sat in silence, her brown eyes fixated on every small detail of the scythe in question.

She marveled at the many applications that the weapon had that weren't as obvious as the complete destruction of a forest in one slice.

"There's a sniper on that thing? I hadn't noticed…I'll have to give that a try sometime. Soon, maybe."

"Put your hands in the air, kid."

"I'm sorry? I was only reading the magazine, I wasn't gonna steal it."

"I said, put your hands in the air!"

"You don't sound like the guy who runs the shop…Are you…Robbing me?"

"I mean, that's the idea, kid."

"Bad. Idea."

"Please. Just take my lien and leave!"

"We don't want your money, we want your dust. Grab some, boys."

A man in a bowler hat, black pea coat and an eye patch just visible under his straight, gray hair spoke menacingly to the cashier of the shop. All of the men were left speechless, however, when a white blur had smashed through the window of the shop. Rising out of the crouched position the blur had landed in, a white cloak flapped gracefully in the wind.

"Summer Rose the second, at your service. I hope you're all wearing your brown pants, because the mess you'll make will probably show through."

"Well? Get her!" the man said, obviously angry.

* * *

Later on, atop the roof of an apartment complex, the man stood in the open hatch of a cargo carrier, looking down on the young girl in white.

"Sorry, Summer, I suppose you'll be surprised at just where you'll find me. Anyway, this old fart had better get back to his retirement home. See you in Fall, Summer!"

"I don't think so. Roman! What happened man? First, you save the world from a virus, and then you try and destroy it again?"

"Red! I didn't know you'd be here! This is awesome! How's Velvet?"

"Come down here and I'll tell you!"

"Just like old times, eh, Red?"

"Yeah…Just like old times. I'd just feel a little better if my bad guy catching record wasn't 0 – 5 at this point."

"See ya later!"

"See ya."

"Who was that?" Asked Summer.

"Roman Torchwick."

"No, are you serious?"

"Is it that hard to believe that that guy is behind your favorite kind of cereal?"

"Wait, what?"


End file.
